In the waters off Wano Country, a single-masted pirate ship flying an unfamiliar Jolly Roger was cutting across the sea toward the first half of the Grand Line at a frankly unreasonable speed.
On deck, Kael leaned lazily against the rail. The sea breeze ruffled his black hair, and endless blue waves were reflected in his golden eyes.
He had just wrapped up a short but very efficient "sightseeing tour" of Wano.
As for the ship he had casually "commandeered," its captain and crew were currently shivering in the cabin, while a single unlucky helmsman had been left at the wheel, hands glued to the rudder and posture suggesting he might dive overboard at any second.
Seriously, was that necessary? It was not like he was going to eat them. He was a very reasonable man.
Kael himself was not entirely sure whether his intervention this time counted as good timing.
He could have waited until after Moria's defeat, then walked up and put a blade on his neck to force him into submission.
But an olive branch offered from above and a lifeline someone crawls through hell to grab mean completely different things.
Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish…
Kael did not want a bargain-bin Warlord hiding on Thriller Bark, playing house with a zombie army.
He wanted a true powerhouse who had crawled out of hell, someone who understood what "loss" and "power" really meant.
If Moria still ended up like in the original timeline, beaten into a mental breakdown and never picking himself back up, then it just meant he was mud that would never hold a wall. Kael would completely write off the idea of recruiting him.
The seed had been planted. Whether it grew into a towering tree or withered at the sprout stage depended entirely on Moria's own fate.
"Well, at the end of the day, I do have a little confidence in my own personal charm… probably."
Kael rubbed his chin, not entirely convinced even himself.
After all, a boss who was this strong, this generous, and actually willing to give his subordinates room to grow was not exactly easy to find on this sea, even if you searched with a lantern.
As long as Moria's brain had not been smashed into paste by Kaido's kanabo, he should know what choice to make.
"K, Kael-sama…"
A trembling voice sounded behind him. It was the "lucky" pirate captain who had been chosen to speak.
He was bent at the waist, not daring to raise his head. His voice shook like it might fall apart at any moment.
"Ah… a-ahead of us is the Sabaody Archipelago."
Kael glanced back at him and nodded.
"Mm. Good work. You know how to read the room."
The captain looked as if he had just been pardoned from execution. He almost dropped to his knees to kowtow on the spot.
Kael did not bother with him any further. He pushed off lightly with the tip of his foot.
His body turned into a golden streak and shot straight toward the familiar hilltop villa above the Sabaody Archipelago, moving faster than the naked eye could track.
On the sea behind him, a long wake lingered for a long time, along with a ship full of pirates collapsed on the floor, silently celebrating the fact they were still alive.
Those pirates, later: I once walked away without a scratch after running into the Lord of Aura himself!
…
Sabaody, hilltop villa.
In the spacious, sunlit living room, Sakura and Rin were humming tuneless little songs as they cleaned, armed with a rag and a feather duster. They carefully wiped every corner.
The two girls treated everything here as their most precious treasure. Every day, they kept the place spotless, terrified that even a speck of dust might stain the house that sheltered them from the storm.
"Big sis, when do you think Kael-sama will come back?" Rin asked as she polished an ornate vase, a hint of longing in her voice.
Sakura paused, looking out toward the sky beyond the balcony.
"Kael-sama has important things to do," she answered softly. "All we have to do is keep the house in order and wait for him to come home."
Even so, there was a faint, hard-to-spot glimmer of expectation in her clear eyes.
At that moment, a streak of golden light appeared out of nowhere on the balcony and condensed into a human form.
When the light faded, it revealed the man they had been thinking about day and night.
"Kael-sama!"
"Ah! Kael-sama is back!"
The two girls cried out at almost the exact same time. Their rag and duster dropped to the floor with a soft thump.
They looked at each other, faces full of barely contained joy, then ran toward the balcony like two excited little swallows.
Kael saw the two girls launching themselves at him and could not help a lazy smile.
He opened his arms and very naturally caught one soft, fragrant maid on each side, pulling them both into his embrace.
Kael: No, you are not interrupting at all. You are right on time.
The soft warmth and light fragrance unique to young girls wrapped around him at once. After just finishing a "big battle," Kael felt his entire body and mind relax.
"Mm… Kael-sama, you finally came back."
Sakura was the bolder of the two. She buried her face in Kael's chest, her voice carrying a hint of pouty complaint.
Rin's cheeks were bright red. Even though she was also caught in his arms, she looked flustered, her big watery eyes staring up at Kael without blinking.
"What?" Kael lowered his head and deliberately blew a soft breath against Rin's ear, making the girl shiver from head to toe.
Only then did he drawl, "I leave for a few days and you two clean the house this spotless. Are you trying to make sure I have absolutely no excuse to slack off when I get back?"
"T, that is not it at all!" Rin mustered her courage to retort in a tiny voice. "We just… just wanted you to feel comfortable when you came home."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Kael's gaze slid over their pretty faces. The smile at the corner of his mouth grew deeper.
"Well, I actually am really tired right now and need to 'get comfortable.' What do you think we should do about that?"
Rin quickly lifted her head, eyes lighting up.
"I… I will give you a massage! I have gotten even better at it!"
Sakura rushed to follow.
"I, I will go prepare snacks and black tea for you!"
Watching the two girls earnestly fight over how to serve him, Kael could not help laughing.
He released them, then took one in each hand and led them back into the living room. He dropped onto the sinfully soft sofa that could make a saint go bad.
"All right, all right, I will stop teasing you."
He stretched lazily, settling into the most comfortable position he could find.
"Sakura, go on. I am in the mood for your tea. As for Rin…"
He patted the sofa beside him.
"Come here. Let me see whether your massage really has improved."
"Yes, Kael-sama!"
Their voices were bright and crisp as they answered in unison, then split up to do their tasks.
Before long, Sakura returned with a pot of steaming black tea and a plate of delicate pastries, the aroma filling the room.
Rin was already kneeling on the sofa behind Kael, her small hands pressing into his shoulders with just the right amount of strength.
Kael closed his eyes and soaked in the long-lost calm and comfort.
The scent of tea and the girls' hair filled his nose. Soft whispers from the girls and birdsong from outside drifted together in his ears. The pressure on his shoulders washed away the last trace of fatigue from his trip.
Now this was living.
Four Emperors, World Government, Pirate King… none of that could compare to lounging in his own villa, drinking afternoon tea while being pampered by two adorable maids.
Rotten, decadent slacker life truly was peak.
He suddenly remembered something and opened his eyes, looking at Sakura as she passed him a teacup.
"Right, did Kalon show up while I was gone?"
Sakura tilted her head and thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Mister Kalon came by twice. When he saw you were not here, he left some documents and said to have you look them over when you returned."
As she spoke, she trotted off to the study and soon came back carrying a neatly organized stack of papers.
Kael took the files and flipped through them casually.
He had to admit, Kalon really was a talent.
The documents detailed the recent "reform" results in Sabaody's underworld.
The "New Order Enforcers" were taking shape. They had not only completely stamped out the slave trade, but also established an effective "commercial arbitration" system for disputes. Even the collection of "public security management fees" now had written rules and procedures.
Sabaody's criminal underbelly was visibly transforming from chaotic, unchecked wild growth into something run more like a standardized corporation.
"This guy really did decide to run the underworld like a business. At this rate, becoming one of the New World's top five hundred 'companies' is only a matter of time."
Kael shook his head with a smile.
Sakura refilled his tea, laughing softly.
"Mister Kalon must really want your approval."
Kael sprawled back into the sofa again and kept reading.
The early pages were mostly good news. A casino owned by a World Noble had been "temporarily shut down for safety violations like fire hazards." A human-trafficking ring's ringleader had "accidentally" choked to death on a champagne cork in his own bed.
Those little anecdotes put Kael in a very good mood.
However, when he reached the last few pages, his brows twitched ever so slightly.
The report said that in the lawless parts of the Sabaody Archipelago, especially around some of the red groves near the Marine base, Kalon's "new order" was not going in smoothly.
His men had clashed several times with the forces entrenched there. Both sides had taken losses, and the enemy's firepower was sharper than your average pirate crew.
Based on the intel Kalon had gathered, the forces behind them hinted at a single name.
Donquixote Doflamingo.
Kael tapped lightly on the flamingo crest inked on the page. A chill flickered through his golden eyes.
Donquixote Doflamingo. Future Warlord of the Sea, king of Dressrosa, the underground's biggest broker.
This guy's reach really was a bit too long. Someone needed a smack.
Sabaody was the endpoint of the first half of the Grand Line and the gateway to the New World. Its location was critical, a stage for many powers to compete over.
It was only natural that Doflamingo had business interests here.
But natural or not, this patch of ground now had a new landlord. And that landlord's surname was Aaron.
"Is something wrong, Kael-sama?" Sakura caught the subtle shift in his mood and asked in a worried tone.
"Wrong?"
Kael chuckled.
He snapped the folder shut and tossed it aside.
"Not really. Just a noisy bird who thinks that changing branches means he can flap his wings however he wants."
He picked up his teacup, blew on it, and took a slow sip.
"Looks like I will have to drop by in a few days and 'deliver some warmth.' Teach him what it means to mind his manners."
Sakura and Rin nodded, half understanding. In their hearts, anything Kael-sama said he would do was simply something that would happen.
Once "work" was dealt with, Kael picked up the stack of newspapers next to him. These were issues Sakura and Rin had collected while he was away.
He enjoyed Rin's steady massage while casually flipping through headlines from all over the world.
He yawned and turned another page. Suddenly, his eyes stopped.
On one inside page, in a modest column, there was a short piece of news from Wano Country.
"Shocking! Tomb of Wano's Legendary 'Sword God' Shimotsuki Ryuma Robbed! Great Grade Blade Shusui and Samurai Remains Missing!"
Kael stared at the headline, and his expression instantly turned strange.
He could practically see Moria in his mind's eye, hauling a coffin on his back, a black katana over one shoulder, cackling "shi shi shi" under the moonlight.
"You really went there, Moria…"
He could not help muttering with a laugh.
"An elite tomb raider now, huh?"
His thoughts drifted.
He remembered Moria's zombie army in the original story. That guy's hobby was collecting corpses of powerful people, then stuffing other people's shadows into them to make them his soldiers.
Aside from Ryuma, there were Captain John, "Silver Axe," and other famous pirates from the Rocks era among his "collection."
Corpses? I only use corpses from the Rocks crew, thank you very much.
Damn. That really was hellish.
To be fair, Kael did not object to Moria creating zombie soldiers.
He just hoped he would use them carefully, slowly, in a planned way. Use the early ones to leverage later ones, stagger deployment so the new models could phase out the old… ahem.
The real issue was that Moria had become so obsessed with making zombies that he neglected developing his Devil Fruit and training his Haki.
The Shadow-Shadow Fruit had plenty of potential. Moria, do you want to become a true shadow powerhouse? (Not really.)
In the end, being addicted to "figurines" was bad for your health.
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